


Hollow Victory

by silentraccoonrave



Series: Moving On Isn't Forgetting [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Pacific Rim AU, more at 10, oh yeah and both characters are in their early 20s since age is such a hot topic in this fandom, so you know he ded, this fic is basically what happens before the title card in pacific rim, which he tho??????, who knows??????
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-08-12 20:08:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7947331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silentraccoonrave/pseuds/silentraccoonrave
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For Matt and Shiro, killing Galra together in a Paladin was really romantic up until it wasn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hollow Victory

**Author's Note:**

> sup yall.
> 
> this is kinda the prologue for another fic but im posting it seperately cause i figured there were some matt/shiro shippers out there who'd be interested in just this without the rest of the story attached to it so yeah
> 
> shoutout to jay for betaing

Humanity had always looked to the stars and wondered if life was out there. They wrote books and made movies and conspiracies about how aliens would come from the sky into the world around them. Turned out, they were looking in the wrong direction. When alien life came to earth, it wasn't from far off planets and distant moons. It crawled into the world from deep beneath the Pacific Ocean.

A fissure between two tectonic plates.

A portal between dimensions.

The Breach.

The monsters that came crawling out of it were called the Galra. They were giant, the size of skyscrapers, with the ability to destroy like nothing humanity had ever seen.

The first one hit San Francisco. It took six days to bring it down. By then, three cities had been destroyed and tens of thousands of lives lost. The impact was devastating, but eventually the world mourned and moved on.

Until eight months later.

A second Galra attacked Manila.

Then a third one hit Cabo.

And then a forth.

That’s when humanity realized that those were just the beginning. The attacks weren't going to stop.

Humankind needed a new weapon.

So the world came together, pooling resources and throwing aside old rivalries for the sake of the greater good.

To fight monsters, they created monsters of their own.

The Paladin program was born.

The world's greatest minds came together to design and build giant robots, hundreds of feet tall, operated via neural interfaces between pilot and technology.

There were setbacks at first. The neural load to interface with a Paladin proved to be too much for a single pilot to handle. A two pilot system was implemented with left and right hemisphere pilot control.

It was called the Drift.

Paladin tech, based on DARPA jet fighter neural systems. Two pilots, mind melding through memories with the body of a giant machine. The deeper the bond, the better they fought.

Humanity started winning. Paladins were stopping Galra everywhere.

But the Paladins were only as good as their pilots. So Paladin pilots turned into rock stars. Danger into propaganda. Galra into toys.

Humanity got really good at winning.

Then.

Everything changed.

\---

" _Kerberos Rising_ , report to Bay 08, level A-42. Galra, Codename: Knifehead. Category 3. 8700 metric tons."

Shiro rolled out of the bottom bunk as the alert sounded through the room. "Wake up, Matt!" he said cheerfully. "We're being deployed."

“I didn't order a wake-up call,” Matt groaned loudly and pulled his pillow over his head.

Shiro smirked and slapped him on the ass as he walked over to their shared closet. “Good morning to you too, Sleeping Beauty.”

Matt squeaked indignantly and yanked his head out from under its pillow. “I hate you,” he grumbled, glaring blearily at Shiro's back. “What time is it?”

"Two," Shiro answered over his shoulder. He reached into their closet and pulled out two t-shirts, one for him and one for Matt.

"In the morning?" Matt whined. Shiro grinned and threw Matt’s shirt at him. He caught it and grumpily pulled it on.

"Category 3 Galra wait for no man," Shiro replied, pulling on his own shirt and grabbing pants. "Come on, this is the biggest one yet!"

Matt dropped down out of the top bunk with a huff and shuffled over to Shiro. He buried his face in Shiro's neck and sighed. "But it's nice here. I don't wanna," he muttered sullenly.

Shiro smiled gently and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend. "Me neither, but this is what we signed up for," he hummed, resting his chin on top of Matt's head.

"Nope," Matt sighed, happily nuzzling into Shiro's neck. "You signed up. I got suckered into it by the puppy dog eyes and the cute blush."

"Mhm, sure," Shiro murmured. He pressed a quick kiss into Matt's hair, then shoved him towards the closet. "Now put some pants on and find your glasses, or you'll be facing the Galra blind in your pjs."

\---

Shiro and Matt joined the Paladin Academy at 19, the youngest recruits ever admitted. They had signed up together after a lifetime of friendship. Joining the Paladin program had been a shared dream of theirs ever since the giant robots had first showed up on the frontlines of the Galra war.

No one had been surprised when Shiro and Matt finally gotten together after graduating high school. Everyone had been even less surprised to find out they were drift compatible.

When Shiro and Matt had finally gone into the Drift together, Shiro had been blown away by how easy it was to give everything he had to Matt. The instructors had warned them that the first neural handshake between pilots was always weak and unstable. But when Shiro had felt Matt’s awareness pressing against and intertwining with his own, it had been the most natural feeling in the world.

Shiro had watched Matt’s memories shimmer past him with excitement and awe, and once the handshake had been formed, he had been able to feel every second of Matt’s love even as they had put the practice Paladin through its paces.

They had been given _Kerberos Rising_ and a deployment to Anchorage, Alaska, soon after.

\---

Shiro loved suiting up for battle. The hustle and bustle of the technicians always calmed him down and helped him clear his mind.

He stood still as the technicians attached the armored chestplate and pauldrons to the climate controlled undersuit. He clicked on the arm guards and gauntlets while two more technicians attached the thigh plates. Shiro stepped into the plated boots and snapped on the shin guards. Another technician came up behind him and secured the drivesuit's spine into place. Shiro looked over at Matt as a final technician handed him his helmet.

Matt was slipping off his dorky wire frame glasses and putting on lenses designed to fit beneath their helmets. He turned to Shiro and scrunched up his face. "I hate these frames. They're so ugly."

Shiro smiled and leaned over for a quick kiss. "That's what happens when you're allergic to contacts, Matt." He rolled his shoulders experimentally as the armor adjusted and screwed itself into place.

Matt rolled his eyes, and they both pulled their helmets on.

"Don't get cocky, Shiro. It doesn't look good on you," Matt said as the helmet visors calibrated and downloaded the proper data feeds.

"That's not what you thought last night," Shiro replied, grinning broadly at his partner.

Matt flushed bright red and hastily turned away.

Shiro walked over and pulled Matt into a hug. He gently clicked the foreheads of their helmets together. "Ready for our fifth notch on the belt?"

Matt grinned up at him. "You betchya."

"Time for drop, _Kerberos_ ," one of the technicians called.

"Let's go kick some ass!" Matt hooted, and pulled Shiro into the Conn-Pod.

\---

Shiro and Matt stepped into their individual piloting harnesses with ease. Machinery hissed around them as their boots slotted into place and the harnesses screwed themselves into the backs of their armors. The floor folded away, exposing the mechanisms of the Paladin controls beneath their feet.

The hemisphere controls folded out from the main harnesses and snapped onto the pilots' arms, Shiro's onto his left and Matt's onto his right. The weapons bayards formed in their hands as the comms crackled to life around them.

"Good morning, young pilots!" their technical overseer's voice chirped.

"Hello, Coran," Shiro replied.

"How'd that new Altean restaurant turn out?" Matt asked.

"I loved it," Coran cried. "But the owner banned me for crying over the appetizer in the middle of the restaurant."

"Better luck next time," Shiro said with a smile.

"I can only hope," Coran responded mournfully.

"Engage drop, Coran," a new voice ordered. 

"Engaging drop, ma'am," Coran replied, all traces of distress gone. "Marshal Allura on deck. Securing the Conn-Pod and getting ready to drop."

The door to the pod thudded shut behind Matt and Shiro.

" _Kerberos Rising_ ready for drop," Matt reported to Coran.

"Here we go," Shiro grinned.

"Here we go," Matt grinned back.

The pod rumbled around them, then plunged downward towards the rest of the Paladin.

\---

The Conn-Pod growled to a stop and settled onto the shoulders of the massive Paladin. Once all the connections had ground into place, Coran's voice sounded through the pod again. "Coupling confirmed, ma'am."

"Engage pilot-to-pilot protocol," Allura ordered.

"Engaging now," Coran responded.

Protective armor folded out of the Paladin's neck and closed around the Conn-Pod. _Kerberos Rising_ 's AI began running diagnostic tests and preparing for launch. The pod shuddered as the Paladin's reactor core fired up.

"Pilots, this is Marshall Allura Pentecost," Allura said over the comms.

"Hey, Allura."

"Sup, Marsh."

The massive bay doors of the Shatterdome groaned open in front of _Kerberos Rising_ , and the loading dock rolled the Paladin out into the Gompertz Channel.

"Prepare for neural handshake," Allura commanded.

"Starting in fifteen seconds," Coran announced and began to count down.

Shiro turned to look at Matt. "Ready to get into my head?" he asked.

Matt smirked. "Please, after you. Age before beauty, babe."

Shiro snorted right as the onboard AI announced, "Neural handshake initiated."

Shiro closed his eyes and felt himself slip into the Drift. Memories flickered past him, both his and Matt's, in a dizzying rush. Shiro felt Matt's conscious settle into place beside his and opened his eyes with a deep breath.

"Neural handshake strong and holding," Coran announced.

"Right hemisphere calibrating," Matt said, raising his right arm.

"Left hemisphere calibrating," Shiro said and lifted his left arm.

He and Matt raised their non-bayard arms together, then jerked both of their arms back sharply at the elbow. A satisfying crunch sounded behind them as the left and right hemisphere mechanisms synced up.

Matt and Shiro grinned together and punched their right hand into their left. The massive Paladin around them recreated their actions instantly.

They returned to parade rest as Allura came back onto the comms.

"Gentlemen, your orders are to hold the Miracle Mile off Anchorage. Copy?"

"Copy," Shiro answered.

"Sir? There's still a civilian vessel in the Gulf," Matt said, looking over the incoming data.

"You're protecting a city of two million people," Allura reminded them. "You will not risk those lives for a boat that holds ten. Am I clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," Shiro replied.

"That's cold," Matt muttered. He flicked off the comms and glanced at Shiro. "You know what I'm thinking."

Shiro grinned. "I'm in your brain," he laughed. "Of course I do."

"Then let's go fishing," Matt crowed, and they pushed the Paladin forward, walking it out towards the Gulf.

\---

 _Kerberos Rising_ found the fishing boat at the same time as the Galra. It was a massive four legged beast with a giant horn taking up most of its head. Its eyes narrowed as it faced off the Paladin over the fishing boat. The Galra threw back its head back and trumpeted to the sky.

Matt carefully scooped the boat out of the water. "I've got it," he yelled. "You protect the core!"

Shiro nodded sharply and dropped the Paladin into a defensive stance. As Matt cradled the boat close to their chest, Shiro swung _Kerberos Rising_ around and under a swipe from the Galra.

"The boat is safe," yelled Matt.

"Then let's do this!" Shiro yelled.

They turned as one and punched the Galra twice in the face. While it was recovering, they brought the Paladin's hands together over their head, then smashed them down in a double fisted blow to the Galra's head.

The Galra floundered for second before surging up and ramming _Kerberos Rising_ in the chest.

Shiro and Matt were flung back in their harnesses, but quickly righted themselves. They pulled back their right arm as it morphed into a plasma cannon.

"Fire! Fire!" Shiro yelled urgently as the Galra attempted to overbalance the Paladin.

"I am! I am!" yelled Matt and fired two quick blasts into the Galra's chest.

The Galra flew backwards and crashed into the ocean. Shiro and Matt stood inside the Conn-Pod with their chests heaving.

"Well," Matt breathed heavily, "that was exciting."

"Sure was," Shiro agreed.

" _Kerberos_ , what the hell is going on out there?" Allura's voice snarled over the comms.

"Lit it up twice," Matt crowed happily. "Bagged our fifth kill."

"You disobeyed a direct order!" Allura snapped.

"Respectfully, ma'am," Shiro interrupted, "we intercepted a Galra and saved everyone on board that boat."

"Get back to your post," Allura growled. "Now!"

"Yes, ma'am," Matt answered smugly. Shiro shook his head with a grin as they turned the Paladin back towards shore.

"Wait, _Kerberos_!" Allura's voice was back. "We're still getting a signature! That Galra is still alive!"

Matt and Shiro turned back to stare at the place where the Galra had vanished beneath the waves.

"Grab that boat and get out of there," Allura ordered. "Do you copy?"

Neither Shiro or Matt answered as they continued to warily scan the waves.

"Grab the boat and get out of there, now!" Allura repeated urgently.

Suddenly, the Galra erupted out of the water directly in front of _Kerberos Rising_. Shiro and Matt instinctively flung their arms over their face as the Galra bellowed angrily. It lunged forward and torpedoed its horned head through the Paladin's armor right next to the right shoulder joint.

"Right arm is cold," Matt reported urgently. "Systems offline, I can't fire!"

"I got it!" Shiro yelled and morphed the left arm into another plasma cannon. "Almost there!"

As the cannon charged, the Galra in front of them reared back and roared, right before crashing down on the Paladin's head.

Its gaping maw tore through the shielding on the Conn-Pod.

It tore through Shiro's right arm as he reached out for Matt.

It tore off the entire right half off the Conn-Pod.

And it took Matt with it.

Shiro screamed as the Galra's jaw slammed shut around Matt's body. He could feel Matt's panic and terror. He could feel every second of Matt's pain. He could feel the Galra crushing Matt's body. He could feel the moment that Matt's life snuffed out.

Shiro's scream turned into a roar as he raised the Paladin's remaining plasma gun and fired incessantly into the Galra's body.

He fired even as its body flew into bits in front of him. He fired even as the Galra's body sunk beneath the waves. He fired until there was nothing left but the long ugly slick of Galra blood stretching out on the surface of the ocean.

Then he dropped the cannon and his bayard and slowly dragged the remains of _Kerberos Rising_ back to shore. The cold Arctic air swirled through the massive hole in the side of the pod. It bit into the bloody stump of his arm and the cuts in his drivesuit.

But Shiro didn't feel any of that. He only felt the aching emptiness where Matt used to be. Matt had always been there for him, by his side and in his mind. And now he was gone.

For the first time in ages, Shiro was completely alone.

He staggered towards the shore and hoped the cold would kill him before he got there.

**Author's Note:**

> feedback is appreciated! also lemme know if the pronouns for shiro and matt while they were piloting kr were confusing or not
> 
> also did you know it only takes 6 months to become a jaeger pilot???? like i was looking in the pacrim wiki to see how long it took and it's like a 24 week course broken into 3 sections that you have to pass like i'da thunk that it'd take longer to learn how to pilot a fucking gigantic smashy robot BUT NO APPARENTLY NOT


End file.
